What Camera?

[Yashica FX3]

So....if I was going to by an older mechanical 35mm SLR, what would be THE camera to get? What was the one camera that was considered the one to have? Don't get me wrong,m I love my old Yashica FX3 but getting hold of lenses is a bit tricky and thinking about getting another vintage camera.....

 

[nandbytes]

I have a FX3 myself which was passed down to me from my dad. Brilliant camera, finding contax/yashica lenses isn't too hard but can take some patience.

Nikon F mount probably has "lived" the longest of lives.

In terms of lenses Olympus OM and Minolta A-mount are my favourites.

But if I were to buy a mechanical camera today I'd look for a Leica range finder body with m-mount. Some of those bodies could even work as really nice longer term investments.
The voigtlander lenses are just great for Leica M.

 

[Yashica FX3]

I have a FX3 myself which was passed down to me from my dad. Brilliant camera, finding contax/yashica lenses isn't too hard but can take some patience.

Nikon F mount probably has "lived" the longest of lives.

In terms of lenses Olympus OM and Minolta A-mount are my favourites.

But if I were to buy a mechanical camera today I'd look for a Leica range finder body with m-mount. Some of those bodies could even work as really nice longer term investments.
The voigtlander lenses are just great for Leica M.

I had a 50mm ML prime with the camera when I first got it as a teenager. I have managed to get hold of some ML Yashica zoom lenses recently which are not bad.
Oh, Leica Rangefinder would be nice....I should have put a proviso of "affordable" [relative term I know] in my original post.

 

[Nikon photographer]

Nikon F, F2 or FM, the F mount lenses are so easy to find, but if you like Yashica cameras, why not look at their earlier cameras, they use the M42 mount, nearly everyone made lenses in that mount, I still have my TL Electro which was a birthday present when I turned 17, it's one camera I'll never sell.

 

[john.margetts]

The three big name mechanical cameras must be Nikon F1, Asahi Pentax Spotmatic and Olympus OM1. All are now very old and all three should still be working well. The F1 is going to cost a lot, certainly a couple of hundred pounds in usable condition. Spotmatic should cost around twenty to thirty pounds and OM1 perhaps a wee bit more. Plenty of lenses around for all three.

 

[nandbytes]

I had a 50mm ML prime with the camera when I first got it as a teenager. I have managed to get hold of some ML Yashica zoom lenses recently which are not bad.
Oh, Leica Rangefinder would be nice....I should have put a proviso of "affordable" [relative term I know] in my original post.

I understand Leicas can certainly be expensive for most people inc. myself.
The lenses are more affordable if you get the voigtlander ones.
I like the less is more concept. I'd buy just one or two lenses and travel light.

Contax/yashica zooms are really good. Some of the first zooms that were good IMO. Some of them are bit big for my liking.

I think Nikon F is the best one for lens availability.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

It all depends on your budget and how lucky you are. Nikon is very nice but has held its price well, as has Leica. Going by current prices, you'd be doing astonishingly well to pick up something like this for much less than £2,000 (and the coffee would be pricey too!)...



A few years ago, Canon fell through the floor and I picked up a FT-QL plus an AE-1 for £35 the pair. (the lenses were extra). Canon prices have gone up a bit but a decent user camera can still be found well short of £100...



Pentaxes are often at the less expensive end. However, watch out for those that are pretty on the outside but knackered within. My favourites were the original Spotmatic and the slightly earlier SV...

 

[LeeRatters]

So....if I was going to by an older mechanical 35mm SLR, what would be THE camera to get? What was the one camera that was considered the one to have? Don't get me wrong,m I love my old Yashica FX3 but getting hold of lenses is a bit tricky and thinking about getting another vintage camera.....

I have a FX3 myself which was passed down to me from my dad. Brilliant camera, finding contax/yashica lenses isn't too hard but can take some patience.

Nikon F mount probably has "lived" the longest of lives.

In terms of lenses Olympus OM and Minolta A-mount are my favourites.

But if I were to buy a mechanical camera today I'd look for a Leica range finder body with m-mount. Some of those bodies could even work as really nice longer term investments.
The voigtlander lenses are just great for Leica M.

I have an FX3 Super 2000, from new in the early 90's. I actually took a roll of film to be developed on Saturday! 28ML, 50/1.9ML, Contax CZ 80-200/4. I've had all the 50's, zooms, another 28mm but that's what I settled on as the best for me.

I have an FR1 but it has an issue I need to try to fix or paperweight it.

I've used some Canon FD stuff which I also adapted on my A7. Some nice lenses in that range for reasonable money.

The FX3 is also quite a bit lighter than the FR1 and the Canon A1 cameras I've owned.

What's a complete new set up going to cost you vs those lenses in c/y that you might want?

 

[Yashica FX3]

I have an FX3 Super 2000, from new in the early 90's. I actually took a roll of film to be developed on Saturday! 28ML, 50/1.9ML, Contax CZ 80-200/4. I've had all the 50's, zooms, another 28mm but that's what I settled on as the best for me.

I have an FR1 but it has an issue I need to try to fix or paperweight it.

I've used some Canon FD stuff which I also adapted on my A7. Some nice lenses in that range for reasonable money.

The FX3 is also quite a bit lighter than the FR1 and the Canon A1 cameras I've owned.

What's a complete new set up going to cost you vs those lenses in c/y that you might want?

Very fair point....CZ Contax fit here we come!

 

[Andysnap]

Contax and the Zeiss 50mm f1.7. Mrs Snap has this ( and some Yashica lenses which are excellent ) and it is most excellent, very sharp images indeed.

 

[LeeRatters]

You can find a few of my Yashica mount lenses in here but be aware that the majority are probably shot on the A7 or old 5D2!

Personal

The safest and most inclusive global community of photography enthusiasts. The best place for inspiration, connection, and sharing!

www.flickr.com

EDIT - Does that work? ^^ It a Flickr ''collection'' link. But it might just be available to me........?

 

[sphexx]

You can find a few of my Yashica mount lenses in here but be aware that the majority are probably shot on the A7 or old 5D2!

Personal

The safest and most inclusive global community of photography enthusiasts. The best place for inspiration, connection, and sharing!

www.flickr.com

EDIT - Does that work? ^^ It a Flickr ''collection'' link. But it might just be available to me........?

I don’t know what you can see there but for me it shows 30 ‘sets’ grouped by camera mostly from “Sony 35GM“ to “35mm film”.

 

[LeeRatters]

I don’t know what you can see there but for me it shows 30 ‘sets’ grouped by camera mostly from “Sony 35GM“ to “35mm film”.

Yeah. That's the collection that contains most/all of my stuff that I've bothered to ''lens group'' over the years.

 

[Yashica FX3]

You can find a few of my Yashica mount lenses in here but be aware that the majority are probably shot on the A7 or old 5D2!

Personal

The safest and most inclusive global community of photography enthusiasts. The best place for inspiration, connection, and sharing!

www.flickr.com

EDIT - Does that work? ^^ It a Flickr ''collection'' link. But it might just be available to me........?

Some really nice shots in amongst those

 

[sphexx]

But if I were to buy a mechanical camera today I'd look for a Leica range finder body with m-mount. Some of those bodies could even work as really nice longer term investments.

Not sure if investment is the right word but it is often said you can buy a film Leica, use it, and sell it for what you paid originally.

 

[LeeRatters]

Some really nice shots in amongst those

Thanks. They aren't Zeiss Distagon or Planar lenses either!

 

[nandbytes]

Not sure if investment is the right word but it is often said you can buy a film Leica, use it, and sell it for what you paid originally.

apparently some of them increase in price over time. Never looked into it seriously as investment options (not that I have money left for such ventures anyway....)

 

[Retune]

THE mechanical camera for the C/Y system is the Contax S2/S2b. Elsewhere, there's a lot of choice. You could certainly make a case for one of the Leicaflex models, probably the SL. My Leicas are rangefinders, some screwmount models and an M6, but in the last few years the already pricey M system has become stupidly expensive. The M6 I bought for £800 now goes for about 3x that, and some of the lenses cost 2-4x what I paid for them. So recently, since I already have Nikon AF gear, I've bought a couple of mechanical bodies (FM & FM2n) and some manual focus lenses to go with them, building a small system that has some compatibility with the AF stuff (Nikon compatibility is complicated!), and is much easier to replace than the Leica gear if anything should happen to it. Even though Nikon is far from the cheapest manual focus option, both bodies and 6 lenses came to less than the replacement cost of one of my Leica lenses.

Some people rate one or other of the Nikon FM series as THE compact mechanical SLR (the final FM3a pulls off the neat trick of having a full range of both mechanical and electronically controlled shutter speeds), but of course there's fierce competition from the Olympus OM-1n (a real design classic) and various Pentax models. But the ultimate mechanical Nikon, and arguably THE mechanical SLR if you don't mind the size and weight, is probably the F2 in one configuration or another. Unlike the original F, you can choose a prism that will do open aperture metering with the AI lenses they've been making since the late 70s, all the way up to the AF lenses that have aperture rings. Or you can choose an old-school pre-AI style prism and have open-aperture metering with any lens that has the 'rabbit ear' coupling prongs, pre-AI or AI. Or just get a plain meterless prism. If you wanted to bet on a Nikon that can still be made to work 50 years from now if anyone is still making film, I suspect it would be this one.

 

[Yashica FX3]

THE mechanical camera for the C/Y system is the Contax S2/S2b. Elsewhere, there's a lot of choice. You could certainly make a case for one of the Leicaflex models, probably the SL. My Leicas are rangefinders, some screwmount models and an M6, but in the last few years the already pricey M system has become stupidly expensive. The M6 I bought for £800 now goes for about 3x that, and some of the lenses cost 2-4x what I paid for them. So recently, since I already have Nikon AF gear, I've bought a couple of mechanical bodies (FM & FM2n) and some manual focus lenses to go with them, building a small system that has some compatibility with the AF stuff (Nikon compatibility is complicated!), and is much easier to replace than the Leica gear if anything should happen to it. Even though Nikon is far from the cheapest manual focus option, both bodies and 6 lenses came to less than the replacement cost of one of my Leica lenses.

Some people rate one or other of the Nikon FM series as THE compact mechanical SLR (the final FM3a pulls off the neat trick of having a full range of both mechanical and electronically controlled shutter speeds), but of course there's fierce competition from the Olympus OM-1n (a real design classic) and various Pentax models. But the ultimate mechanical Nikon, and arguably THE mechanical SLR if you don't mind the size and weight, is probably the F2 in one configuration or another. Unlike the original F, you can choose a prism that will do open aperture metering with the AI lenses they've been making since the late 70s, all the way up to the AF lenses that have aperture rings. Or you can choose an old-school pre-AI style prism and have open-aperture metering with any lens that has the 'rabbit ear' coupling prongs, pre-AI or AI. Or just get a plain meterless prism. If you wanted to bet on a Nikon that can still be made to work 50 years from now if anyone is still making film, I suspect it would be this one.

Thanks, some really helpful comments which may shape which way I go with .y next vintage purchase

 

[Stephen L]

I have a Contax RTS in Classifieds which is nowhere near as dusty as it looks in the photos. . Mechanically excellent. Price negotiable.

 

[Yashica FX3]

I have a Contax RTS in Classifieds which is nowhere near as dusty as it looks in the photos. . Mechanically excellent. Price negotiable.

Thanks for letting me know....I can't see the classifieds yet as new to the forum.

 

[ABTog]

I have a Pentax Spotmatic (the one in my avatar), which has a lovely feel to it. Picked it up in a charity shop about 5 years ago for £5 with the 55mm f1.8 lens. The M42 mount is very easy to find lenses for. I've got a 35mm f2.8 which is nice, if a little stiff to focus. I did have the Tamron Twin Tele 135mm f2.8, which had a matching tele converter to make it a 225mm f5.5. It also had 12 rounded aperture blades so the bokeh was very nice.
I also have an Olympus OM20 with 50mm, 24mm and a 70-210 zoom. Very nice camera, lighter than the Pentax and still easy to find lenses for.

 

[Stephen L]

Thanks for letting me know....I can't see the classifieds yet as new to the forum.

Keep posting. I can wait.

 

[THIRTYFIVEMILL]

I would look for a nice Nikon FM2N, personally. That was my first camera and loved it and still yearn for another.

 

[Kiwi Paul]

I have an Oly OM2SP and 2 OM2N's all lovely cameras and the OM mount lenses are easy to get and offer excellent IQ. The cameras are solid build and very reliable.

I have 2 Canon A1's which I like and the FD lenses are also easy to come by and offer excellent IQ.

I also have a Nikon F4 and F6 and again there are a huge assortment of F mount lenses available. One advantage of going with the Nikon SLR cameras is you can also get a Nikon DSLR and the F mount lenses will work with that too. (I have a D780 and a set of Af D primes which work on all 3 cameras).

 

[droj]

People have subjective favourites, so it's easy to tread on toes. But overall we have aesthetics, handling and durability in the mix.

Canons were sturdy but not the best looking nor the best in the hand.

Olympus OM1's were very pretty but I never found the shutterspeed ring (against the body behind the lens) at all ergonomic. And to me the OM2's and later were a bit too finely bred mechanically & electronically.

The Pentax MX was neat, pretty and excellent to handle, but Pentax's quality control was not the best. A good choice if you found one that had been put together properly. There was also the LX.

The Nikon F series had a sensible aesthetic - you couldn't call them pretty but they were good in the hand with all controls in the right place. The quality control was better than Pentax's and this was reflected in the comparative price. The F3 was a classic, and the FM series excellent.

 

[Deleted member 34016]

I have an old Nikon F2 -( not for sale ) still in great condition with a 50mm lens to boot

No film sadly- but it looks good on a shelf in my office


Les

 

[RaglanSurf]

I have an old Nikon F2 -( not for sale ) still in great condition with a 50mm lens to boot

No film sadly- but it looks good on a shelf in my office


Les

Run some film through it, it's too good to just sit on a shelf.

 

[FruitFlakes]

Any of these three, although if I had to pick one... the FM3a. The aperture priority/fully mechanical trick is just too cool.

 

[ChrisR]

The Pentax MX was neat, pretty and excellent to handle, but Pentax's quality control was not the best. A good choice if you found one that had been put together properly. There was also the LX.

I'm well known as a Pentax fan so take that into account. I had a Spotmatic and then an Electro Spotmatic in the early days, then a Pentax ME that I still have. That's definitely not a mechanical camera so doesn't fit the OP's brief.

I really like my MX. It's a good size, has the best viewfinder in the business, two possible view screens (others can be adapted but may have an effect on metering), and the meter is pretty reliable centre-weighted. The prime lenses (SMC Pentax-M and SMC Pentax-A) are nearly all first class, the zooms not so much (though I really liked the 35-70 before I dropped the camera and damaged the lens). The main flaw of the MX in my eyes is the shutter speed control. It's on the top deck, but it is very stiff; most people find they have to bring the camera away from their face change the shutter speed. The little tell-tale window that shows you the current aperture is an excellent feature, IMO.

The LX is even better; you have all the mechanical features, plus metering off the film down to LV -4 (IIRC). If you're taking a night shot on Acros in aperture priority, you can just let the camera do its thing; if it needs 27 seconds, that's what you'll get. It's a little larger and heavier, also has the telltale window. It has a larger range of viewfinders and screens. One feature I really like, although I've not actually made use of it yet: as you rewind the film, the film counter also rewinds. Yeah, maybe it's just a gimmick?

Anyway, both the MX and LX are great cameras.